Provision of Higher Education Act May Force Schools to Spy on Online Students
Language in the bill, currently before Congress, to re-authorize the Higher Education Act could lead distance-learning
institutions to use home-monitoring devices to police their students who take courses online, according to an article in
The Chronicle of Higher Education (“New Systems Keep a Close Eye on Online Students at Home,” July
25, 2008).
The provision, contained within a single paragraph of the 1,200-page bill, is intended to prevent students enrolled in online
programs from cheating. The clause requires providers of online postsecondary programs to prove that the person submitting the
online classwork is the student who’s actually enrolled.
Hearing no objections from Congress to the provision, a handful of online colleges are now testing home-monitoring systems that
authenticate online test-takers through fingerprinting, watch students in their homes via webcams, and record key strokes on
students’ home computers.
Some colleges claim one chief advantage to these types of devices: Students will no longer be required to travel to a distant
location where a proctor can oversee them taking the test in person. Instead, students will be able to take tests online in the
comfort of their own home, with an installed approved monitoring system acting as an on-site proctor.
A few administrators, however, are concerned that these new technologies, which will are managed by third-party vendors, may
not adequately safeguard students’ privacy. “This is taking a step into a student’s private life,” said Rhonda Epper,
co-executive director of Colorado Community Colleges Online. “I don't know if we want to extend our presence
that far.”
Debates about privacy and institutional intrusions aside, there may be at least one upside: The provision could bring online
degrees a greater reputability since the schools would be verifying that their graduates had actually completed the coursework,
said John Ebersole, president of Excelsior College, an online institution in Albany, N.Y.
“If it raises confidence and credibility in the eyes of regulators and traditional educators,” Ebersole said, “it’s worth
it.”